Tag: Japan

In a Feb. 16 letter, Sima Shakeri wrote that Canada should institute mandatory voting, to cure what ails Canadian democracy. Shakeri praises Australia for its mandatory voting system, and its consistent voter turnouts of more than 90 per cent. This does not say much about the state of Australian democracy. After all, it is mandatory. In fact, researchers at the Australian National University released a study in December 2016 reviewing their most recent federal election, concluding that faith in Australia’s democracy hasn’t been so low since 1975. A 2014 study from the Lowy Institute found less than a third of voting-age Australians had confidence in the federal government. The same problem exists in our country. Eighty per cent of Canadians […]

“Keepin’ it Real” is a weekly blog that analyzes news and events in the international system through a realist perspective. Realism describes the international order as anarchical, as actors are looking to serve and achieve their own interests. In this blog, Yugander Sailesh and Matt Clark take a look at Trump’s foreign policy regarding China’s territorial expansion of the South China Sea and its economic implications on Canada and the world. The South Pacific has become an ever-growing topic of importance in the past few months, with the increase of Chinese influence in the region. The election of Donald Trump has increased the discussion about the South Pacific, given that Trump has claimed he will end the “freeloading” of countries […]